Snergle Repellent
by Scarlet Snidget
Summary: A bit of NevilleLuna romance taking place around the holidays. Luna is oblivious to what it means when she hangs mistletoe over her head, and Neville ends up 'explaining' the tradition.


Disclaimer: While I enjoy prancing about in it, this fictional world is not mine, but JKR's. The place, characters, etc. all belong to her. The only thing that's mine is the plot.

A/N: Okay, so it isn't Christmas yet, but I got the idea, and it sounded do Luna-esque. 

It was almost Christmas at Hogwarts. The students were all getting caught up in the holiday spirit, and there was a touch of love in the air. Some people, rather than walking around with scarves of their house color, wore cheerful red and green. Girls wove ribbon through their hair, and even the ghosts sang.

And with everything going on, Luna Lovegood had been walking around with a red hat on for the past week. Oh yes, for her that would have been quite normal, even with the students it would have been relatively normal at this point, except for one thing about it: she had charmed a piece of mistletoe to float above the hat.

Everyone, the guys and girls alike, avoided her. The guys, because they didn't want to have to participate in mistletoe's 'tradition', and the girls for the obvious reason that they thought she was weird.

There was only one person who actually wanted to ask her about it was Neville Longbottom. He kept looking for an opportunity, but he never found one. Also, there was a problem. The only problem was that he was too nervous to talk to her, not to mention too shy.

Maybe he'd been brave when he went into the Ministry of Magic, but not now. Not around girls, and not around this one in particular.

Neville had taken a certain 'interest' in Luna ever since his third year, her second. He was constantly staring at her from afar; he never got anywhere near her. There were more than enough reasons for that: she was a girl, she was a year below him, and she was in Ravenclaw. Oh, but how he loved watching her, he hair bouncing slightly as she walked, and the way her eyes always shone. He was infatuated.

He'd never said anything about his thoughts to anyone, even those he considered his closest friends, but it wasn't like there was anyone he'd truly be able to trust with that information. No, it was his little secret. His big secret.

And however clumsy he was before, it seemed worse then, especially around her. He'd try to act normal, but he'd always end up tripping or dropping his books or getting his foot stuck in the trick stair. No one in his year acknowledged her for a long time.

The first time she actually was noticed by any of the other Gryffindor boys was in their fifth year, when they met her on the Hogwarts Express. And still no one but him saw that odd, yet captivating beauty in her. She was always 'Loony' Lovegood to them. But finally, he could be near her.

"Really," he said quietly to himself, "she's so pretty. She... wouldn't want to bother with me. I'm a... a nobody..." He'd always thought he should have been in Hufflepuff, because, almost whenever he needed it, his Gryffindor courage failed him.

Finally, after classes late one afternoon, she was sitting outside on a snowy ledge, alone- as usual. He weighed the moment in his mind. There was no one around that he could see, he was alone, and she was alone.

After a few looks around to check if anyone was watching, he went over to talk to her. He sat down, careful not to get too close.

"Oh, hi, Neville," she said, closing her latest copy of 'The Quibbler. She scooted toward him, but she made absolutely no indication of the mistletoe. "How are you?"

"Um, fine... Hey, Luna, I was wondering... oh, never mind... I... uh..."

"What is it? Was there something you wanted to say?"

"Um, sort of... yeah, well..." he was starting to feel uncomfortable and tensed up. Her wide blue-grey eyes stared into his. He didn't want to make a fool of himself- not in front of her. He decided being direct. He wasn't sure when he'd get the chance to ask again. "Uh, what's with the mistletoe?"

"Oh, that! It's used as a Snergle repellent."

"Senergle... repellent...?"

"Yes, they're tiny, tiny creatures that'll infest your hair during the Yuletide season," she said knowingly. "Mistletoe contains Nargles, which are now discovered to be harmless. Snergles avoid them, so mistletoe is used as a repellent. Many people have been avoiding me, though, which leads me to think..." she lowered her voice, " ...that almost everyone's infected with Snergles."

Neville nodded, slightly overwhelmed by Luna's curious theory. He was silent for a moment, then whispered, "Well, mistletoe is usually used in a famous tradition. That might be what people were thinking about. Actually, I'm not sure everyone knows about Snergles..."

"Really? I thought they'd know... I mean, Snergles are quite a pain." She looked up at him again. "Anyway, what's the tradition?"

Neville gulped. "I, uh... when two people are under mistletoe, they... when they're underneath it, it's said they're supposed to... I..." He paused, then said quietly, "Would you like me to show you? It is tradition, after all."

Luna nodded, grinning from ear to ear. "Hands-on learning is supposed to be very good. Just like when my dad and I went on an expedition looking for Crumple-Horn Snorkacks..."

Neville stood up, pulling her to her feet. The mistletoe bobbed in the air above them. He could feel his face getting warm. Quickly, he slipped his hands around her waist and gently pressed his lips to hers.

He drew away quickly, face reddening even more. "I'm... I'm sorry, Luna," he said, as he saw the surprised look on her face. "I shouldn't have done that... I'm sorry..."

Luna backed up slightly, looking up at the mistletoe as if Neville wasn't even there or saying anything. She quickly hopped up, snatching it. Then she looked at him, shaking her head and looking rather serious. She threw the mistletoe over her shoulder and flung her arms around him.

She kissed him again. "So much for those Snergles... I'm not so worried anymore. Actually, that mistletoe starting to bother me... maybe it's allergies... That tradition on the other hand..." Her eyes glazed over slightly as she babbled on, but she stopped when she felt Neville's arm brushing against hers.

Neville breathed a sigh of relief, slipping his arm around her shoulders as they walked back toward the castle. His cheeks were no longer glowing pink. The only thing doing that was the castle, now with a rosy aura in the fading sunlight.


End file.
